War of the Astral Line
by chronosraine
Summary: [FSN universe]In a failed attempt to summon her dead brother as a Servant, Rosette instead gets a demon known as Chrno. Can the two work together to win the most dangerous war ever concieved to win the greatest prize of all? Control of the Astral Line.
1. Summoner's Folly

I do not own Chrno Crusade, merely the DVDs.

A/N: I'm going to say this now; the only language I know is English. If you decide to read anything past this point then you'll know why I said that.

* * *

Chapter 1

Rosette looked around her to make sure that the preparations were complete. She checked one last time to make sure that the runed circle at her feet showed no error, that the candles were placed in their exact locations. Months of preparation had led to this moment and failure was not an option. After all this was the only thing that could once again reunite her with her brother.

Thinking of her dead brother Rosette's grip on the old pocket watch in her hand tightened. The scratched and dented item would be the sign of their contract together, if the spell worked that is. Shaking her mind free of negative thoughts the girl clutched the watch even harder, pressing the cold, glass face over her heart. _Soon Joshua we will be together once again, and when we win this war you and I shall stay together forever._

Licking her suddenly dry lips Rosette inhaled deeply and began the first incantation. "_Von den Tiefen von meiner Seele bitte ich um die Treue von einem geborenen mit weißen Flügeln und einer heiligen Anmut._"

Quickly she bent down and laid the pocket watch in the very center of the circle. Almost as quick she pulled out a thin dagger from the folds of her dress and with the slightest wince of pain slid the blade over her index finger. She let but one drop of blood drip from the small cut onto the face of the watch. The watch face flared to life as it started to glow and its hands started to rotate. The lines around her started to glow and soon the runed circle around her glowed with a bright white light that matched the same light coming from the watch face.

Rosette once again straightened up to complete what was left of the spell. "_Lassen Sie diese Uhr und mein Blut ist das Zeichen von unserem Vertrag. Offenbaren Sie jetzt sich mein treuer Wächter!"_

With the last word of her spell the light of the circle and watch face suddenly turned red and the tame flames of the five candles around her grew to her height. Almost instantly after, the glow of the lines disappeared and the candles went out. Rosette felt tired, like the spell had drained most of her energy. She carefully tucked the dagger back into its sheath and wearily retrieved the pocket watch from the floor. It no longer glowed with the light from moments ago, but now the hands moved instead of staying still like before.

Rosette attached the watch to the loss chain around her neck and let it bounce to her chest. The only thing Rosette had room for in her tired thoughts were if the spell had worked. Her question was answered by a loud crash coming from somewhere else in this large mansion.

Her exhaustion temporarily forgotten, Rosette ran from the room towards the source of the crash. The girl pushed opened the old oak door to the room just beside the one she previously occupied. Inside, just beyond the reach of light from the hallway, kneeled a shadowed figure. She swallowed nervously. "Joshua? Is that you?"

The figure stood up and walked into the light. Rosette gasped, partly in astonishment, partly from grave disappointment, and stepped back. The figure revealed himself to be neither her wanted brother nor even an Apostle. What stood before her was a demon.

* * *

_ Why? Why am I once again conscious? In this… place that shouldn't be possible… And what is this feeling I have? Warmth…pulling me towards itself… And… light? Is that light? Here in this… nothingness, this void…why is there…light here? It has been… how many years since I've seen light? How many centuries? It does not matter… time has no meaning here… but this light and this warmth… it has been so long… This force… it's bringing me closer… I can't stop it… do I want to stop it? No… Anywhere is better then here… Take me away, whoever you are… and I… shall be eternally grateful…_

Chrno opened his eyes to darkness, yet this darkness was different from his supposedly unending torment. This darkness was normal, merely an absence of light. The darkness he had spent nearly three centuries in was worse. That darkness represented all of his fears and doubts, all the guilt and all the sadness. Now he was free of it and he made up his mind to serve his savior until one of them has stopped living.

The door to this dark chamber was slowly opening and Chrno was ready to receive his new master. To his faint surprise the person to walk through that door was not what he had expected at all. It was a young girl, 16 years of age or so, with golden locks of hair falling around her face and wide azure eyes. She wore a tattered blue dress with a small knife hanging from her waist and an old pocket watch lay gently against her chest. Chrno stared intently at the ticking object. He could feel a bond between her and himself flow through it.

"Joshua? Is that you?"

_ It appears she was expecting someone else. _Chrno thought to himself, slightly amused. _It looks like I was released from my prison by the mistakes of this little girl._

Smiling slightly Chrno straightened up and stepped into the light. He heard the girl gasp and saw her move back. _Fear maybe? That would be understandable in these circumstances._

Chuckling to himself quietly Chrno moved closer towards his new master, but with every step forward that he took, she would take one back. This went on for a second longer until the girl's back hit the wall behind her. Before she could run down either direction of the hallway Chrno closed the wide gap between them until only a body's breadth of space separated them.

"St-stay back! I'm warning you!"

She fumbled with the hilt of her dagger but before she could draw it Chrno grabbed her hands with his own and pulled them away from the weapon. He could feel her fingers tremble against his palms. _Strange how my Master should fear her own Servant._

He got down on one knee and bowed his head down. "My name is Chrno and I vow to serve you, my Master, for as long as there is breath on my body and I vow to protect your life even at the cost of my own. I shall be your Servant as long as you or I may live or until you have no more need of my services." He then planted a soft kiss to the back of each hand before letting them go.

To the demon's relief the girl pulled away slowly, showing that she no longer feared him or at least feared him less. It would have been inconvenient if his Master ran away whenever he got close. He stood up straight, all 7 feet of him, and looked down at his Master. She looked back up at him, her wide azure eyes showing no more fear but filled with curiosity.

"Wow you're really tall."

Chrno suppressed a sigh. If he had been summoned here because the war had once again started, then their chances of winning seemed miniscule.

* * *

Well that's it for the first chapter. I wanted to write more, but didn't feel like it. Anyway, if someone out there actually bothered to read this then review for me. Or not, its your choice really. 


	2. Sealing Of An Unsealed Contract

I don't own CC; if I did it would suck

Chapter 2

When the demon had first revealed himself to her she was filled with an aching disappointment. The attempted summoning of her brother had failed and now there was only one way left to bring him back. Then as the demon approached the disappointment had been replaced by fear. Rosette had read a lot about mistaken summonings. If the Servant summoned was one from either the heavens or the earth realms then it was fine, but those who accidentally summoned demons usually found themselves dead. Most of the time they were eaten.

The fear froze her senses, and all Rosette could do was stumble back. Only when her back hit the wall did she remember her small dagger.

"St-stay back! I'm warning you!"

The girl desperately tried to draw the small weapon. Before she could, the demon grabbed a hold of her hands with his clawed ones. The tip of each talon lightly scratched the back of her hands. Many panicked thoughts crossed her mind at that moment starting with '_Uh-oh, he's gonna eat my hands'._

"My name is Chrno and I vow to serve you, my Master, for as long as there is breath in my body and I vow to protect your life even at the cost of my own. I shall be your Servant as long as you or I may live or until you have no more need of my services."

Needless to say Rosette was very astonished. Thoughts of whether or not he was going to eat her hands were replaced with '_Wow! He can talk!_' and '_He's pretty gentleman-like for a demon_' and other strange, yet meaningless thoughts.

As the demon named Chrno released her hands Rosette stared at him with a more curious light. He looked human enough, ignoring the talons, long pointed ears, ivory horns, abnormally long canines, slitted irises and the pair of large, crimson, leathery

bat-like wings passing off as a cape. The rest of his wardrobe included a crimson coloured leather jerkin, dark red leather pants, blood-coloured leather boots and a pair of tarnished silver gauntlets. Rosette guessed the insides of the gauntlets were lined with leather, most likely of a red colour.

_I guess he really likes leather and the colour red._

Rosette blinked as the demon stood. It annoyed her faintly that he towered over her. As the ability to speak returned to her, the blonde said the first thing that came to mind.

"Wow you're really tall."

As the words left her lips Rosette mentally kicked herself. _Wow you're really tall? You accidentally summon a demon and that's all you can say? Geez no wonder the summoning failed! You're a real genius you know that?_

Chrno cleared his throat, snapping the girl out of her pointless thoughts. "I'm sorry to interrupt your, ahh, thoughts Master, but would you like me to seal our contract? Since I was summoned by mistake our contract hasn't been properly sealed so we must correct that lest I accidentally suck out your soul. Though I've heard it was painless, I doubt you want that to happen since it'll cause your death."

Rosette stared at him, trying to figure out if the last part was some kind of demonic humor. Unfortunately his face was serious and showed no hint of a smile.

"Umm, I really don't want that to happen so you can go ahead and seal the contract." Rosette answered nervously.

Now Chrno did smile. Slightly. "As you wish Master. Now please choose the form of sealing; by breath or by blood?"

Rosette gulped. When he said that there was a hint of amusement behind his voice, and she didn't want to know what the demon thought of as 'funny'.

"Erm, which method would be less painful?" Rosette asked, nervousness still present in her voice.

"The method of blood involves myself biting your wrist or neck and drain a precise amount of your lifeblood. Not enough to kill, but you will feel… slightly lightheaded for a day or so. The method of breath involves me breathing in your breath as you breath out." He dictated this in a neutral tone, what could only be described as the shadow of a smile on his lips. "Please Master the time is short. Soon I will be pulled away by higher forces and you shall no longer be able to participate in the upcoming battle. Or anything else for that matter."

Rosette gulped, nervousness leading to anxiety at the thought of missing her chance. And her life.

"Well I don't really get the breath thing, but I'm not to keen on getting my blood sucked out. So this breath thing, lets… lets do that." She finished lamely.

"Very well." Chrno swept into a low bow before suddenly grasping Rosette's chin swiftly yet softly. The girl's eyes widened and she gasped in surprise as the demon tilted her head up slightly and sealed his own lips over hers. The girl trembled, and the demon feeling her about to pull away planted his other hand on the small of her back and drew her even closer.

Rosette closed her eyes, trying not to think about what was happening. This of course only led her to think about the kiss even more profusely. _Oh my god he's kissing me! My first kiss! A demon just stole my first kiss! I'll kill him, then I'll rekill him, then I'll rekill him again! It's not fair! Even though his lips are soft… and warm… tastes like mint… No! No! This is unforgivable!_

Then it happened. The kiss literally took her breath away. The girl gasped again, this time for air, and her lips spasmed against his. Yet Chrno refused to let her go, even as she struggled vainly in his grasp. Rosette felt as though she were drowning, lungs crying out for air. Her eyes rolled back and a last thought entered her oxygen-deprived brain. _Can't… can't believe… gonna be kissed to death…_

As she grasped futilely at her last straws of consciousness, the demon released her. With a gasp she doubled over and gulped air like a person previously drowning. One hand clutched her furiously beating heart while the other grabbed onto a convenient protruding wall lamp holder in order to keep standing.

"Master, are you alright?" Asked the demon, a hint of concern in his voice. His changed voice.

Rosette waited until her need for air lessened and the beat of her heart slowed before whirling around in fury. "What was that all about?! You could have-"

She blinked, not believing her eyes. She closed and rubbed them before taking another look. "Umm, Chrno…"

Chrno cocked his head to the left and stared up at his master's bewildered face.

"Is something wrong?"

"You've, well, shrunk!"

Chrno was no longer his tall, intimidating self. He had shrunk to just over 5 feet tall and lost all the sharpness of his previous form. His talons becoming nothing more then rounded nails, canines shrinking to almost normal size and ears shortened. He was also no longer leather clad. He wore a red long coat over a feather white shirt, red shorts and white striped legwarmers. The most notable change, aside from height, was that now silken purple hair cascaded down his back and over his shoulders.

"This," Chrno gestured down at his body. "Is a side effect to my incomplete summoning. I only have a limited amount of energy and must keep to this form in order to conserve it. I can still use my demonic form, but only for a short while and sparingly."

"So what your saying is that you'll have to stay in this little form almost all the time?" Rosette asked with growing dismay.

"Precisely. But," this time the demon cracked a real smile. "my full memory is still intact. I'm sure my knowledge can help us get pass this setback."

Chrno remembered a time when he was also summoned mistakenly, with his memory temporarily lost. At that time the demon almost ripped his master's head off. Rosette on the other hand wasn't very happy about this. The girl groaned and lightly bumped the back of her head against the wall. If her servant stayed as this little pipsqueak, then their chances of winning seemed miniscule.

A/N: That's tha tfor this chap


	3. Rain On A Cloudless Night

Disclaimer: don't own CC

Chapter 3

"Oi! Stop! I said stop you… What do you think your-" Rosette's protests were abruptly cut short as a low hanging branch entangled itself with her hair. Her sharp cry of pain caused Chrno to stop for a moment and glance back at the girl, though he didn't loosen the iron grip he had on her wrist.

"What pains you, master?" he inquired in a low yet hurried voice.

"What the heck do you think?" Rosette grimaced while trying to untangle her hair from the branch without much success. In fact, the damage seemed to worsen.

"Hold still, master." The demon stared at the branch, his eyes flashing gold for an instant. Suddenly Rosette's tangled locks freed itself as though its time had reversed. The girl lifted a few strands before her surprised eyes to inspect them of any damage.

"What did you just do?" Rosette asked.

"I merely temporarily reversed the flow of time around the branch. Now please master we must get moving." He scanned the surrounding area, as though a number of enemies could show up at any moment. All Rosette saw were trees of every size surrounding them, the dilapidated mansion was no longer even in sight.

"Hold on a minute short-stuff, I ain't taking another step until you tell me why we've just left the only shelter for miles in the middle of the night!" Rosette shook herself free of Chrno's grip and dropped to the ground, arms and legs cross.

"Master, please." Chrno pleaded palms up and open as a sign of defeat. "We have not much time."

"Time for what? You better start explaining if you want me to start moving." Rosette responded crossly.

Chrno sighed in resignation and sat down beside his master. "Very well. When a summoning occurs, especially an incomplete summoning, the level of astral particles in the area becomes unstable. If another Master or Servant nearby sensed it, they'd come straight for. As you can see it is imperative that we flee."

Rosette stared at her servant's face for a moment. With a huff she turned away, nose in the air. "I don't believe you."

"Master, please!" the demon jumped to his feet, voice boarding hysteric.

"Okay, okay I was just teasing." Rosette got up slowly, dusting off her bottom. "I'm ready now, let's- whoa what do u think you're doing!"

Chrno had scooped the girl in his arms, carrying her bridal-style. "There is no more time to waste."

Chrno dashed forward, weaving through the trees, moving at a superhuman speed.

"Gah!" a red-faced Rosette unconsciously wrapped her arms around the demon's neck. Then she let go. Then she grabbed him again, tighter then before, when it looked like they were about to crash into a particularly thick oak. She didn't let go again. Finally, after thirty minutes of running (in Rosette's case carried) at a breakneck speed, Chrno stopped. The forest had thinned drastically; it was obvious that the couple were nearing its edge. Rosette finally realizing that they had stopped and started to struggle in the demon's arms.

"Hey, lemme down! Lemme down! Lemme down! Ack!" Unable to contain the struggling girl Chrno dropped her by accident. With a groan of pain Rosette sat up, rubbing her lower back. With a weary sigh Chrno closed his eyes and sank down beside her. Therefore he didn't notice the fist until it made contact with his face. The little demon rolled a few times until being forcefully stopped by a tree trunk.

"What was that for?" Chrno asked in a shocked voice, staring at his master with watering eyes.

Rosette's right eyelid twitched, but she didn't find standing up, walking to Chrno, and punching him again worth the effort. "Forget about it. Anyway what's up with the super speed?"

Chrno suppressed another sigh. _I seem to be doing that a lot recently. Geez, I sound like an old man and I'm not even a day over 120. Okay maybe four years over 120, but that's still pretty young for a demon. Admittedly I should be 420 by now but still…_

"Oi! Mini-demon are you listening? I asked you a question!" Rosette dug under the layer of dead foliage and threw a rock at her demon. Unfortunately (depends on how you look at it really) it turned out to be just a clump of dirt. Still, no one likes getting hit in the face with anything, clump of dirt or otherwise.

"I was thinking of an explanation that would not overwhelm you, my Master." Chrno said, lying through his abnormally sharp canines. "Let us just say that I accelerated the time around my legs so that it seemed as though we moved at a superhuman speed. Alas I can only use this ability for a short time considering my… present restrictions."

"Fine, I'm sorry okay! I didn't mean to screw up the summoning." Rosette burst out, throwing her arms up and falling back onto the surprisingly comfortable forest floor. Countless stars winked back at her. "It's just I wanted to see my brother again, you know?"

Rosette frowned as a single teardrop rolled down the side of her face. "It's weird that it's raining on a cloudless night like this, isn't it?"

Chrno averted his eyes and stared up at the stars too. _It truly has been a while. _"Yes, very strange indeed."

* * *

"Can you still sense them?" A quiet voice asked. 

"Little bastards got away pretty fast, but their trail ain't hard to follow. I can catch up to them before dawn." A deeper, hoarse voice replied. Its owner sat down and leaned back on a tree, a long, jagged-edged blade resting against his shoulder. The man was tall with broad shoulders. He wore his long robe open with its sleeves ripped off, exposing a heavily scarred chest and arms. Loose pants and cloth boots completed his attire. His long black hair was greased back and a scar ran across the bridge of his nose.

"Thing is I gotta leave you here. Make sure to climb a tree or something so wolves don't eat you." The man grunted.

"Yes, I'll make sure." The man's soft-spoken companion was a slight figure, about half his size. His willowy frame was hidden within a large rob, the same style the man wore. His face was veiled behind a curtain of long, faded violet hair.

"But must you really go after them? They haven't done a thing yet." He said in his soft, slow voice.

The man snorted and stood up, pushing against the tree he leaned on. The oak's thick trunk cracked. "What are you an idiot? The rules are simple; the strong live the weak die. If I weren't your Servant you'd be dead by now. Now climb a goddamn tree. That fire ain't gonna last forever you know."

The man jerked his thumb at the scene behind him. A mansion burned intensely, if the trees around it hadn't been cut down and thrown aside the whole forest would have caught by then.

"I will make sure to stay safe, but please put out the fire. It is burning quite intensely and the forest can still catch."

The large man snorted and rolled his eyes.

"If you insist, _Master_." His voice dripped with sarcasm. Still he raised a palm against the fire. The fire blew out like a tiny candle flame, not like the huge blaze it was.

"Now I leave," he turned his back to his smaller companion. "If you die I'm gonna drag you back from hell and kill you again."


End file.
